Zheng Family Five-Spice Tofu

Zheng Family Five-Spice Tofu

　　Zheng Family Five-Spice Tofu

　　Zheng Family Five-Spice Tofu. During the Guangxu era, Zheng Youren, a resident of Xiakazi in the county town, inherited the traditional technique for braising five-spice dried tofu. The tofu he created was no larger than half a palm, only about an inch thick, amber in color, flexible yet unbreakable when folded, and offered a taste that started salty then turned sweet, filling the mouth with aroma and leaving an endless aftertaste. Its production involves 12 steps including wrapping, pressing, braising, and “sweating.” With a production cycle of every two days, to maintain the storefront, only a small amount was sold locally, while the rest was packed and mailed to mail-order customers in Hankou, Laohekou, Xi'an, Chongqing, and Guangyuan. Because some of the processes and secret techniques were not passed on, nowadays no one knows how to make it. In 1985, the county’s labor and employment placement department once invested in developing it but was unsuccessful.